Fire-escape



To all whom, it may concern:

rm TATES ATENT A. HOUSTON, OF BELOIT, WISQONSIN.

FIRE-ESCAPE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 295,527, dated March25, 18%4.

Application filed November 7, 1883, (No model.)

Be it known that I, ROBERT E; DOWNIE, a citizen of the UnitedStates, andresiding at Clinton, in the county of Rock and State of Wisconsin, haveinvented a certain new and useful Improvement in Fire Escapes, which isfully set forth in the following specification, reference beinghad tothe accompanying drawings, in which Figurel represents a verticalsection of my fire'escape, the slide on the rope being shown in positionto slide freely thereon; Fig. 2, a

side elevation of the same; and Fig. 3, a similar sectional view of thesame, showing the slide clamped to the rope.

My invention relates to that class of fire-escapes in which there is arope secured at its upper 'end to some fixed part of the building,either in the several rooms or elsewhere, and a slide appliedthereto, towhich the carrier or sling is attached, and which is provided-withsuitable devices for clamping the rope, as may be desired, to regulatethe downward movement. i

I will proceed to describe in detail the construction and operation ofthe devices by means of which I have embodied my invention in practicalform in one way,.and will then point out definitely in the claims thespecial improvements which I believe to be new and wish to protect byLetters Patent.

In the drawings, A represents the rope, which is secured at its upperend, in any usual way, at the desired point for operation, this ropebeing arranged and applied for use in the usual way for this class ofescapes. To this rope a slide, 13, is applied, which is composed of twoindependent parts connected together when applied to the rope, as willbe described presently. One part, ,0, is provided. with openings 0,arranged a short distance apart, and extending from the inner edgethrough to. the outer edge, and between these openings is a curved orcircular boss, 0, projecting slightly beyond the main outer edge ofthisslide.

. These openings are adapted to permit the rope to be passed throughthem and around the curved boss on the outside. This member of the slideis also provided with short interior grooves, 0 at each end, as shown inFigs. 1 and 3 of the drawings. The other member, D, of the slideisadapted at its inner edge to fit the corresponding edge of the member 0,the inner faces of the two being straight and plain for i this purpose,except where grooved or perforated. Near each end of the piece D twoholes, d, pass through it from inside to outside, and between each pairof apertures is a curved or circular boss, d, around which the which,with the corresponding grooves on the opposite member, makes a circularopening when the two parts are brought together, ad-

mitting the entrance of the rope between the two. A bail, E, is pivotedto one member of the slide, preferably the part 0, as shown in thedrawings, and to this bail a sling, F, or any other suitable receiver,is attached. lever, G, is pivoted at one end to the piece 0, the innerface of which, at its central portion, is recessed for this purpose, andextends out ward through a slot, (P, in the opposite piece, I), and issecured to the latter by a pivot-pin, g, the lever having preferably ashort slot, 9, through which this pin passes. The lever projects out atone side of the slide, as shown in the drawings, and must be within easyreach of a person in the sling, basket, or whatever attachment is usedas a carrier. It will be seen from this description that the two partsof the slide are connected together by this lever, and at the same timethat one can be moved upon the other by operating the lever, and that bysuch relative movement the central openings in the two parts may be madeto register or not, as desired. The slide is applied to the rope bypassing the latter in at one end, then out through 't-hefirst opening inthe part D, around the adjacent boss, back A short 7 through the openingin this part on the other side of the boss and the corresponding openingin the'opposite member, 0, of the slide, which registers with theformer, then around the boss and back through the correspondingregistering openings in the two members of the slide on the other sideof the boss, and then around the boss d at the other end of the memberD, and inward through the last opening d in this end, and out throughthe other end of the slide, as clearly shown in Figs. 1 and 3 of thedrawings. Now, it will be seen that the two parts of the slide are alsocon- V nected by the rope which winds in and out around them. It isevident that when the two 7 parts are in the position shown in Fig. 1,with shown in Fig. 3 of the drawings.

the central openings registering, the slide will slip down on the ropequite easily if any weight is applied; but it is also evident that assoon as weight is brought upon the bail a downward strain is produced onthe member of'the slide to which the bail isattached, thereby pullingthis member downward independently of .its companion. This will ofcourse tend to destroy the register of the central openings of theslide, and thus clamp the ropebetween the two parts by biting it at theopenings, as This bite is so short and sharp that the weight of a personon the'bail will clamp the slide to the rope, so that it will beheldfrom all downward movement, and the greater the weightobviously the.stronger will be the clamping force exerted.

thereto, so that there is no danger of the sudden and unexpectedmovement of the slide downward on the rope. This movement isaccomplished only by operating the lever, and so is completely under thecontrol of theperson in the carrier, who seizes the'lever, and byadownward pull thereon, which tends to bring the members of the-slideinto registry again, releases the clamp more or less, thereby permittingthe slide to move downward (21143118 rope. The rapidity of the downwardmovement is completely under the control of the occupant of the carrier,the lever being worked to release the clamp more or less, as may bedesired, thereby regulating the movement of the slide on the ropeexactly as the person wishes.

Now, it is apparent that it will be desirable to prevent the slide fromrunning too freely down the rope by increasing the pull on the lever,which may be very liable to occur in the excitement and frightoccasioned by a fire. If the clamp were so constructed that an increasedpull on the lever would only release it more and more, there would bedanger of a descent so rapidas to produce injury to the person. It isobvious in my device thatthis cannottak-eplace, for if the pull on thelever isincreased so as to carryupward the bail portion beyond the pointof registry there will at once begin a clampmg effect in the otherdirection from that described above, and so the stronger pull on thelever will actually operate to increase the friction, and so slacken themovement of the slide on the rope. Y The appliance, therefore, isperfectly safe. The slide will only move downward on the rope when therope-apertures of the two parts are substantially in registry, and anymovement of the two parts of the slide in either direction to disturbthis registry will operate to clamp the rope, and either stop themovement of the slide altogether or slacken it, as may be desired. Pullsufliciently on the lever to register the ropeholes, and the slide movesdownward. Let go of the lever, or pull too hard upon it, and the slideis clamped on the rope and movement stopped or diminished.

I am aware that fire-escapes of this class are known; but I believe mydevice contains new features in making the operation of the clampentirely automatic and certain in action whenever a person gets into thecarrier, and also in placing the operation of the clamp entirely withinthe control of the person on the escape by the ready and easy movementof a hand-lever, by means of which the descent to the ground may beregulated at will and accomplished with perfect safety.

I do not limit myself to the application of the bail to the member 0 ofthe clamp, as shown in the drawings, for it is evident thatthe'attachment may be made'to either of the parts 0 and D, the leverarrangement being correspondingly changed. It is, however, moreconvenient to make this attachment to the part 0, as shown in thedrawings, as the arrangement of the lever is better accommodated by theunoccupied central portion of the member D. I- do not wish to beunderstood, either, as limiting inyselfto the precise' construction andarrangement of the twopart slide, for obviously changes maybe made inthis respect, and also in the particular arrangement of the slide on therope, and yet the main features of my improvement, as set forth above,may be retained with all the advantages pertaining'thereto.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and-desire'tosecure by Letters Patent, is

1. In a fire-escape, a slide composed of two independent parts arrangedside by side, with their inner faces flat and in contact, in combinationwith a suspended rope passing in and out through both parts of theslide, a carrier attached to one member of the slide, and a leverpivoted at one end to one member of the slide, and having its fulcrumon,

the other member, substantially as and for the purposes set forth.

2. In a fire-escape, the rope A, in combination with a slide member, 0,provided with apertures c and boss 0, the companion slide IIO member D,provided with apertures d and I one of the members of the slide, and thelebosses d, and the bail E, attached to one memver G, substantially asand for the purposes 10 ber of the slide, substantially as and for theset forth.

purposes set forth. 5 3. In a fire-escape, the suspended rope A, ROBERTEMIAH D E in combination with the slide B, composed of Witnesses:

the two members 0 and D, constructed sub- H. W. MERRILL,

stantially as specified, the bail E, attached to G130. A, HOUSTON.

